h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Explain...

Peeple and fings lurn in difrent ways but dey oll have curiouocity.

Yes.

Incidentally, the spelling of that post reminds me of a theory of the origin of the word "ok". In Boston in the 1930s, it was thought highly humourous by the young men of the time to deliberately misspell things. Hence, they would spell "all right" as "oll rite", and "all correct" as "oll korrect". This was stamped on boxes, as those using this sort of intentional misspelling would tend to be working in the docks, and thence OK came.

Really? Wow, ya learn something new every so often.

Well, it's just one of the theories, by no means correct. Nor the most pleasing one. I think the best one is that o and k were the initials of some native american chief.

Then fnord earn my undying respect by telling me the origin of the fnord phrase "23 skidoo". If you've even heard of such a fnord thing.

I have no idea.

Oh, pity. Looks like you've lost your hard earned respect. You could've at least pretended you knew and made it up, or refused to tell me. But alas it seems that only three other people on the whole of Hootoo understand the simple truth.

Skidoo, thats a snowmobile. Snow. Cool. Ice. Hummm. Right twenty three. bc? no that's probably not it. y cool? Anything to do with the letter y?

Nowhere near. Want a clue? There's one in my name, some in my previous posting. There's some in this posting. And there's yet another I in the try angle. Don't be a chao, or a cow, but still "mu! mu!" like the running sire or love. Order denied on freedom relies. Law of the void is her sister. It is the One True Religion of which She is the Goddess and Nothing But the Goddess. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, if you don't take it out and use it, it's going to rust. Q.E.D. L.D.D. J.A.M. P.O.E.E.
You can't not get it after that much help.

Oh yes I can. And I can be thoroughly confused as well.

Oh, dear. Perhaps you should ask Hoovooloo about it, I don't really want to have to explain it all.
Ever heard of Aleister Crowley, Roadkill? Or Gregory Hill?

The former but not the latter. I vaguely remember the former as being something to do with Satan. I think he was the reason that Crowley was called Crowley in Terry Pratchett's novel Good Omens. That's all I know.

He was indeed, but you made an error - it is not Terry Pratchett's novel, but Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman. Who, may I add, is only the best author on the planet.
"Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the law", "love is the law, love under will", "to mega therion" - his is a creed that I have followed my whole life. "The beast", some called him, and "the most evil man in the world". He was the foremost master in the occult, in magick, tantra, pranayama, in free thinking and will.
Heard of Robert Anton Wilson, at least?

Pratchett, or Gaiman?

Fraid not.

By one of those little ironies of life, 'okay', the single most widespread and commonly used word on the planet, is believed to have originated in an American Indian language that is now extinct.

Robert Anton Wilson cowrote the Illuminatus Trilogy, if my memory serves, and 23 skidoo plays a role in those books for reasons which I can no longer recall.

Noggin

In fact, the word OKAY has never been traced to one source - the Indian language theory is just one of hundreds. Where this word originated remains a mystery.

Likewise 23 skidoo, which was first heard as slang in the 1920's in America. The closest definition is 'let's go'. It is thought that the expression is taken from the word skedaddle - to depart in haste.
Where the number 23 fits into this is still a matter of conjecture - nobody knows how or why the number fits into the expression.

That's English!

az

Well that's self perpetuating in-jokes for you.

Really? How?

or perhaps I should have asked - why?